Daily Read

Mark 10:1-16 (NIV)

Today’s passage can tend to feel like it’s dropped into the story out of nowhere. Here you have Jesus trying to help his disciples see what the Kingdom will look like. Jesus has been traveling around healing people and casting out demons, and then here come the Pharisees to talk about divorce? What’s going on here? Why are they trying to test Jesus and why with questions about divorce?

Well, remember back in chapter 6 when Herod had John the Baptist beheaded? That happened because John was calling Herod out. This puppet king who was sold out to Rome was marrying his own brother’s wife. So clearly Herod was not the true King of Israel. So then here's today’s passage, back down near the Jordan where John the Baptist preached, and the Pharisees were interested in what Jesus had to say about Herod. After all, if you are claiming to be the Messiah, you are going to have to deal with Herod, who the Pharisees didn’t like either.

The Pharisees put Jesus is a no-win situation on purpose, and Jesus wisely turns it on them by pointing out their hard hearts. And then gets right back to calling his disciples to keep their hearts soft too!

----------REFLECT----------

1. What word or phrase stood out to you? Why might that be?

2. Watching Jesus in this passage, what do you learn from him about dealing with moments when you’re asked about current controversial events?

3. Jesus knows that the Pharisees hearts are hardened, and the story after this episode illustrated what it will take to enter the Kingdom. As an antidote to their hardened hearts he’s offering the Kingdom of God. They don’t want Herod, but they don’t want the way of Jesus either. In what ways might you ask the Spirit to soften your heart today?

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Mark 9:38-50 (NIV)

In the last episode we engaged with the invitation from Jesus to become like a dependent child when we are compelled to strive for honor, position and power. In today’s passage, Mark illustrated where the minds of the disciples go as soon as they hear a word like this, and if we’re honest we can often make the same turn.

Today we’ll hear the disciples begin to digest all that becoming a servant and a child will mean for them as followers of Jesus. And they realize that they have been drawing lines around who is in and who is not based on their former flawed categories. They bring up to Jesus an example of telling someone to stop casting out demons in his name because they weren’t one of us…

How many times in your circle has it been said, “they are not one of us.” Maybe it hasn’t been said exactly like that but something like, do they really get it… are they close enough to Jesus… yeah they get that right but they don’t believe x,y,z… are they with us? Jesus corrects their thinking immediately and with intensity, telling them that that kind of thinking will be cut off, and when you see it it should be cut out, and if you don’t you will lose your potency.

Where yesterday’s passage challenged our notions of rank and status as individuals... today’s passage turns around and challenges our corporate notions of rank and faithfulness to Jesus, if we’ll let it.

----------REFLECT----------

1. Which moment in this passage grabbed your attention?

2. Have you ever found yourself being skeptical of someone who was “not one of us” questioning their faithfulness to Jesus?

3. We’ve all probably been on either side of this kind of thing. At different moments we can act out of skepticism as we herd together and write people off, or we are the ones who don’t quite fit and are ourselves  written off. What needs to change in you in order for you and your community to live into the upside down radically inclusive nature of the Kingdom?

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Mark 9:30-37 (NIV)

Over and over again in Mark’s Gospel, you see Jesus trying to get his disciples to see what the Kingdom of God is really going to be like. And as we saw last week, Jesus started to break it down to help his disciples see more clearly. But even that is a little confusing. New Testament scholar Tom Wright points out that Jesus had been speaking in parables that asked the disciples to look for hidden meaning, and then when he starts speaking plainly about his death and the upside down nature of the kingdom, they end up trying to discover some hidden meaning.

In today’s passage, the disciples' argument about who would be the greatest shows us just how much imaginative gridlock they were experiencing. Jesus Just got done telling them that if you want to follow me you’ll have to take up a cross… you’ll have to lose your life to find it. And this kind of invitation flies directly in the face of what their culture and society, and indeed our culture and society thinks about success and honor.

For the rest of the journey to Jerusalem, Jesus is trying to get his disciples to understand that following him will not result in the kind of honor and power that they imagine. He starts by inviting them to become like dependent children, who in the ancient world had no status or social power to trade… they were simply dependent. This is not what they expect to hear from a future king. For them to hear this would be like us hearing a boxer say that his strategy would be to step into the ring without gloves and with no intention to fight, but confidence that he would win… and then inviting us to come along with him.

As you listen to this passage, try to hear the words afresh and allow the scene to come to life in your mind.

----------REFLECT----------

1. What image from this passage is most striking to you?

2. How does this passage challenge your desire for honor, social power, and position?

3. In what area of your life do you find it most difficult to be like a dependent child in relationship to the Creator?

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Mark 9:14-29 (NIV)

I’ve never really been into sci-fi. In our modern life, things like teleportation, time warps and the ability to cross over into another dimension are confined to the world of fantasy. Fiction. And yet the Bible challenges our understanding of what is possible in the creator order of things.. Or, if we have eyes to see it can expand our understanding of what’s possible.

We’ve just come down the mountain with Peter, James and John, having seen two very famous guys from Israel who were supposed to be dead, standing there with our friend and rabbi who was definitely looking superhuman, and is himself talking about being raised from the dead. And today’s passage further exposes the definite gap between our experience and understanding and that of Jesus.

As you listen to the story today, again place yourself in the scene. What’s happening? What do you hear? See? Feel?

----------REFLECT----------

1. What character did you most resonate with? Why do you think that is?

2. The boy’s father says that the impure spirit had “robbed” his son of speech. Evil—whether perpetrated by flesh or spirit—is a thief, stealing the good, the beautiful, the noble, the image of God in humanity. In what way has evil stolen something from you or from your family or people group?

3. Where in your life do you long for God to work but feel that you have lost faith? Can you ask the Lord today to help your unbelief?

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Mark 9:1-13 (NIV)

As Jesus gives a real hard word about what it will take to be his disciples, he helps his followers see more of what’s going on. But like the blind man at the beginning of Chapter 8, the disciples' ability to see is blurred by their confusion.

In today’s passage, Jesus invites a few of his closest followers to see with their eyes who he truly is. Now keep in mind that these are three Jewish men who see what happens in today’s passage. They would have grown up on the marvelous stories about Moses and Elijah and would have at least understood that these were people that God used to bring about his covenant renewal and redemption. So to see Jesus with these two, and in a place of honor, snaps everything into clarity for them, at least for now.

Jesus is completing the story that the Jewish people saw themselves within and he’s carrying it forward in surprising ways!

----------REFLECT----------

1. What part of this passage stood out to you?

2. Have you ever experienced a moment when an ordinary situation turned into an encounter with God? If so, what was that like for you? If not, would you be willing to ask the LORD for such an encounter?

3. Consider the fact that right before this passage, Jesus rebukes Peter for his misplaced concerns and failure, yet he still honors him and invites him to see the transfiguration. He was not disqualified! In what way is that good news for you today?

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In today’s passage, Jesus pulls back the veil on what he’s headed towards. The disciples are probably expecting Jesus to roll up into Jerusalem, take over as king, kick out the Romans and rule with justice and some pretty sweet miracles. But what he says must happen next shocks the disciples and raises the bar for what it will take to follow Jesus.

There is a famous verse in this passage that is translated pretty unfortunately in the NIV. In chapter 8 verses 35-37 Jesus says:  For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. …. Then he goes on to say…. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?. The trouble with the translation is around the word soul. Because in the Greek, it’s the same word that was used just a verse before that is translated as life. This is probably because of the influence of the KJV and wouldn’t be a problem except that the word soul has come to mean something very different than the word life in our day. The word that mark uses us a physical and embodied word that talks about our being.

What Jesus is getting at is that following him is going to involve pain, suffering, and will cost us our very lives. Many of us won’t be killed because we’re Christians, but Jesus might ask us to give up our comfort, to redirect our career, to uproot our family, to say yes to things we might not want to say yes to, and to say no to things that we’d really rather say yes to.

Graciously, Jesus doesn’t want to give his disciples the wrong impression. Following him will cost them everything. And he does the same for us today. Don’t be fooled by the siren’s call of our generation… following Jesus will require us to give up many of the securities that we hold dear, and allow him to be our security.

So today I’m going to replace the word soul with life, so we don’t slip into the gnostic, dualistic, and disembodied trap but rather consider the real, gritty, physical and therefore far more powerful and redemptive invitation from Jesus.

As you listen, consider the ways that Jesus might want to disrupt your expectations and reveal the real picture of who he is.

----------REFLECT----------

1. What moment in this passage challenged you the most?

2. Can you empathize with Peter’s rebuke of Jesus? Have you ever thought the way of Jesus was a bad idea? Be honest.

3. How do you try to save your life rather than lose it? And are you willing to follow Jesus if this is what it will require?

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Mark 8:22-26 (NIV)

Have you ever experienced a time in your life when the things that were happening were so big and so important, that you couldn’t quite comprehend what everything meant at the time? Or have you ever looked back at a moment and realized that the evidence for a thing was right in front of you the whole time, but you didn’t have eyes to see?

Recently I was reading a book that someone told me I should read years ago. And as I was reading it two things were very clear to me. One was that it was exactly what I needed when the person gave it to me to navigate my situation, and two was that if I had picked it up and read it, I would have rejected it because of the condition of my heart and mind.

Like a good movie today, Mark’s gospel isn’t as concerned with a linear timeline as he is with conveying meaning with specific stories. In today’s passage, he places the story of Jesus healing a blind man at this point in the narrative as an example of how the Disciples and Israel needed their eyes open. They could see, but it wasn’t quite clear.

----------REFLECT----------

1. Even though this passage was short, what feeling did it cause you to have?

2. Can you relate to the blind man in this passage? Have you ever needed Jesus to give you a second dose of healing in order for you to see something more clearly? What was that and what was it like?

3. This blind man’s eyes reflect the condition of the disciples hearts. They are seeing, but not quite perceiving. Is there something that you struggle with about who Jesus is and what following him requires? Would you be willing to ask him to clear up your vision in that area?

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Mark 8:1-21 (NIV)

The next three episodes are going to take us through chapter 8 of Mark. Now, these chapters and verse numbers are a form of structure that has been placed within the text over time to help people refer to it, in its original form it is one unified story. And up to this point the plot has been building, What’s it gonna look like when Jesus does what he came for? And who so far seems to understand?

As we prepare for these few episodes, I want to you get ready by thinking back to a time in elementary school to that subject that you just could not understand. For me, it was fractions. Like I know what a fraction was, I could add and subtract, but start multiplying and dividing those dad gum things and it was like I hit a brick wall. And for all trying the teachers just could not make it stick. I remember those tense moments with a teacher standing over my shoulder, walking me through it, they might as well have been trying to plant seeds on a hard path… see what I did there.

Chapter 8 is the pivot point for the entire book of Mark, and it’s full of illustrative stories that help us see what’s happening on the inside for the disciples. Will they see Jesus for who he really is, and when they do, will they still be willing to follow him?

----------REFLECT----------

1. What part of this passage did you find most intriguing?

2. Is there something about Jesus that you’ve struggled to understand? Lessons that you’ve had to learn over and over again? Bring that to mind as you reflect on the disciples in this passage?

3. As we hear Jesus ask the question “do you still not understand?” Mark is  positioning us the readers to be asked the same question. Are your expectations of Jesus accurate or are they blurred, is there something about who Jesus is that you struggle to fully embrace? The rest of the chapter will help us understand more, but until then we need to sit with the tension of our honest answer? Do we still not understand? Are there things that we are mistaken about regarding Jesus?

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Mark 7:31-37 (NIV)

If you’ve been listening along through Mark you might remember the man who lived among the tombs who was possessed by demons? Back in Chapter 5, Jesus restored him and sent the demons into a herd of pigs?  And remember just as Jesus   and the disciples were leaving this man wanted to leave with them? Jesus told him to stay, and to go and tell everyone all the the LORD had done for him. That happened where today’s passage takes place.

And what’s amazing, is that the man obviously had an impact on the people there. When Jesus left people were begging Jesus to leave, but upon his return there is a crowd who’s brought to Jesus a man who was deaf and who can healry speak.

Today’s passage gives us another example of Jesus doing stuff straight out of the book of Isaiah, where it was foretold that the Israel's servant would cause the deaf to hear and the mute to speak... And again it’s the first in a string of stories coming up in Mark that act to illustrate the disciples' hearts and their understanding of Jesus. And the first one is an echo of Jesus teaching about the soils, saying let those who have ears hear?

As you listen today, consider the condition of your soul? What areas might be deaf or mute, who can Jesus open them?

----------REFLECT----------

1. What image from this story stands out to you the most?

2. - The details of this passage are quite intimate. If you were this man how would you respond to Jesus pulling you aside in this way?

3. - One distinct feature of this healing is Jesus’ deep sigh. It’s as if he’s lamenting as he interceded in this man’s life and breathing the life of heaven onto him. When you think about your life or the life of your community or someone you know, what would Jesus sigh over, where do you need him to breathe new life?

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Mark 7:24-30 (NIV)

Today on Daily Read we come to a passage that people often get tripped up on. At face value it seems like Jesus calls a woman a dog as she comes begging him to deliver her daughter. Yikes, right? If we look closer it will make way more sense, but first we want you to hear it, and then we’ll give some context before you hear it again.

-----------LISTEN------------

So in order to grasp the dynamics at play here we have to first know that the Greeks and Jews have a lot of bad blood between them. War, the invasion of Greek Culture, desecrating the Temple, you name it. So this woman, who was a part of the ruling class in Syropheonicia, and the disciples, who were a part of the oppressed people in Galilee, are not people whom we should expect to get along.

Second, know that a woman from Phoenicia coming and begging for the well-being of their child is not new. A Phoenician woman came to Elijah in 1 Kings and begged for the life of her son. This woman is just living out that same story with Jesus. She is probably familiar at least with the story of that prophet, and she could be a "God-fearing Gentile."

Third, remember that the disciples have been described as hard-hearted since the "Feeding of the 5000." They were probably frustrated at all of the extra stuff Jesus was doing (for all sorts of people) instead of getting on with liberating Israel. So when this Greek woman comes up, you can almost imagine them standing there with their arms crossed, watching to see what Jesus would do. And running through their minds is probably a line that Jews might have replayed to remind themselves of their rightful place in the story as the people of God, while they have been occupied by the Greeks and now the Romans.… Could they have been thinking to themselves, "We’re the true children of Yahweh, and we’ll have our fill first… thank you very much.”

You've got that visual… Now as you listen again, imagine that when Jesus hears this woman’s plea, he turns to look at his disciples with a grin on his face, knowing what they were thinking as he did with the Pharisees, knowing that they still don’t get it, knowing that it was their prejudice that was blinding them, smiles and says what he says to her.

He’s trying to teach the disciples a lesson about how he is, and the woman's response only affirms that she is acquainted with the God of Israel and his covenant to bless the nations THROUGH  Israel. Her faith is at work, Jesus is responding, and he's doing so in a way that is breaking all the categories for the disciples.

Listen again with this context and see how the passage comes to life.

----------REFLECT----------

1. What moment between the characters stands out to you?

2. What do you appreciate about the way Jesus addresses the disciples’ lack of understanding through his interaction with this woman?

3. What group of people might you be hesitant to see as worthy to eat from the table? How would it and indeed how does it affect you when you see and hear of Jesus acting with compassion towards them? How does this challenge your view of Jesus?